A longbow is a type of tall bow that makes a fairly long draw possible. Longbows for hunting and warfare have been made from many different woods in many cultures; in Europe they date from the Paleolithic era and, since the Bronze Age, were made mainly from yew, or from wych elm if yew was unavailable. The historical longbow was a self bow made of a single piece of wood, but modern longbows may also be made from modern materials or by gluing different timbers together.
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👉 Longbow in the context of Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is an Old World species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it is sometimes called common yew, European yew, or, in North America, English yew. It is a woodland tree in its native range, including much of Eurasia and Northwest Africa. All parts of the plant except the fleshy aril are poisonous, with toxins that can be absorbed through inhalation, ingestion, and transpiration through the skin.
The wood has been prized for making longbows and for musical instruments such as lutes. Yews are often grown as ornamental trees, hedges or topiaries, including in churchyards, where they sometimes reach great age; many explanations have been given for this planting, especially that the yew is associated with death, immortality, and rebirth. Multiple place names derive from the Proto-Celtic *eburos, but scholars disagree as to whether this meant the yew tree.
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Longbow in the context of Arrowslit
An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch bolts.
The interior walls behind an arrow loop are often cut away at an oblique angle so that the archer has a wide field of view and field of fire. Arrow slits come in a variety of forms. A common one is the cross, accommodating the use of both the longbow and the crossbow. The narrow vertical aperture permits the archer large degrees of freedom to vary the elevation and direction of their bowshot but makes it difficult for attackers to harm the archer since there is only a small target at which to aim.
Longbow in the context of English longbow
The English longbow was a powerful medieval type of bow, about 6 ft (1.8 m) long. While it is debated whether it originated in England or in Wales from the Welsh bow, by the 14th century the longbow was being used by both the English and the Welsh as a weapon of war and for hunting. English longbows were effective against the French during the Hundred Years' War, particularly in the battles of Sluys (1340), Crécy (1346), Poitiers (1356), and Agincourt (1415). They were less successful later on, as longbowmen had their lines broken at the Battle of Verneuil (1424), although the English won a decisive victory there; they were completely routed at the Battle of Patay (1429) when they were charged by the French mounted men-at-arms before they had prepared the terrain and finished defensive arrangements. The Battle of Pontvallain (1370) had also previously shown longbowmen were not particularly effective when not given the time to set up defensive positions.
No English longbows survive from the period when the longbow was dominant (c. 1250–1450), probably because bows became weaker, broke, and were replaced rather than being handed down through generations. More than 130 bows survive from the Renaissance period, however. More than 3,500 arrows and 137 whole longbows were recovered from the Mary Rose, a ship of Henry VIII's navy that sank at Portsmouth in 1545.
Longbow in the context of Battle of Shrewsbury
The Battle of Shrewsbury was fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle, the first in which English archers fought each other on English soil, reaffirmed the effectiveness of the longbow and ended the Percy challenge to King Henry IV of England.
Part of the fighting is believed to have taken place at what is now Battlefield, Shropshire, England, three miles (5 km) north of the centre of Shrewsbury. It is marked today by Battlefield Church and Battlefield Heritage Park.
Longbow in the context of Target archery
Target archery is the most popular form of archery, in which members shoot at stationary circular targets at varying distances. All types of bow – longbow, barebow, recurve and compound – can be used. In Great Britain, imperial rounds, measured in yards, are still used for many tournaments and these have slightly different rules to metric (WA) rounds, which are used internationally. Archers are divided into age groups and by type of bow.
Modern competitive target archery is governed by the World Archery Federation (abbreviated WA), formerly FITA – Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc. WA is the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) recognized governing body for all of archery and Olympic rules are derived from the WA rules.
Longbow in the context of Worshipful Company of Fletchers
The Worshipful Company of Fletchers is one of the livery companies of the City of London.
Originally, one organisation included both bowyers (longbow-makers) and fletchers (arrow-makers). However, in 1371, the fletchers petitioned the Lord Mayor to divide into their own Company, leaving the bowyers to form the Worshipful Company of Bowyers.